Dr. Eva Blozik
Type of Scholarship: Early Career
Duration: 1 February 2004 to 31 January 2006
Center: Geriatrie Universität Bern, Spital Bern - Ziegler, Berne/Switzerland
Research Background
Dr. Eva Blozik studied medicine and biochemistry at Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen. She completed her doctoral thesis on "Hemodynamics and Endothelial Function in Renal Insufficiency" under the supervision of Dr. B. Brehm in the Department of Nephrology at the university hospital and then worked as a doctor under Dr. K.H.-Seitz in the Internal Department of Kreiskrankenhaus Sigmaringen, the teaching hospital of the Universität Tübingen.
Since February 2004 she has been an Early Career scholarship holder, based in the Geriatric Rehabilitation Center at Spital Bern-Ziegler under the supervision of Professor A. Stuck. As part of her scholarship, Dr. Blozik is completing the inter-university Masters Program in Public Health run by the universities of Berne, Basle and Zurich and taking part in the courses run by the Research and Study program on Geriatrics and the European Academy for Medicine of Ageing.
Her main research interest are the social networks of elderly people. Social networks are measured using the Lubben Social Network Score, which has been specially tested for use with elderly people. This is primarily a quantitative assessment, with two components that relate family members to friends and neighbors respectively. Emotional support is measured using the MOS Social Support Survey Instrument.
Projects with the following focus are planned:
Duration: 1 February 2004 to 31 January 2006
Center: Geriatrie Universität Bern, Spital Bern - Ziegler, Berne/Switzerland
Research Background
Dr. Eva Blozik studied medicine and biochemistry at Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen. She completed her doctoral thesis on "Hemodynamics and Endothelial Function in Renal Insufficiency" under the supervision of Dr. B. Brehm in the Department of Nephrology at the university hospital and then worked as a doctor under Dr. K.H.-Seitz in the Internal Department of Kreiskrankenhaus Sigmaringen, the teaching hospital of the Universität Tübingen.
Since February 2004 she has been an Early Career scholarship holder, based in the Geriatric Rehabilitation Center at Spital Bern-Ziegler under the supervision of Professor A. Stuck. As part of her scholarship, Dr. Blozik is completing the inter-university Masters Program in Public Health run by the universities of Berne, Basle and Zurich and taking part in the courses run by the Research and Study program on Geriatrics and the European Academy for Medicine of Ageing.
Her main research interest are the social networks of elderly people. Social networks are measured using the Lubben Social Network Score, which has been specially tested for use with elderly people. This is primarily a quantitative assessment, with two components that relate family members to friends and neighbors respectively. Emotional support is measured using the MOS Social Support Survey Instrument.
Projects with the following focus are planned:
- Description of the social network of elderly people in Switzerland. This project considers the characteristics and determinants of social networks, and the predictors of social isolation.
- Epidemiological characteristics as gauges of social networks. This project investigates predictive validity in relation to mortality and functional restriction.
- Inter-European Differences in Social Networks: using data from three European locations, this project will observe the characteristics of social networks in different settings.
- Changes in social networks with aging. This project aims to establish the factors that contribute to the improvement or deterioration of social integration.
These research projects use the baseline data from the PRO-AGE Multicenter Study, in which more than 10,000 people aged over 65 years from Hamburg, Solothurn and London participated. The study uses a multidimensional self-completion questionnaire (Health Risk Appraisal for Older People, HRA-O), which contains questions about health behavior, state of health and socio-economic status.